You just picked up the latest People, Us Weekly or Star magazine and on the cover is some movie star or singer showing off their rock hard abs.  You then look at your abs and vow today is the day that I will do 1000 crunches everyday until summer to have those abs.

Ladies you’re not alone! To get great abs, you must do more than crunches. You will need to:

• burn more calories than  you eat — 1 pound = 3500 calories, you will need to create a 500 calorie deficit everyday to lose 1 pound each week.
• work your large muscle groups — butt, quads, lats, and chest using resistance/strength training and cardio.Working your large muscles will help you burn fat, that maybe covering those gorgeous abs of yours.
• limit your sugary treats,  ladies we tend to store our sugary treats in our mid-section.
• consistency! To see results you must work consistency or your eating and exercise regimen.

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any others, I would love to hear them, just leave me some comments below.

No matter what the temperature is outside, I can always eat soup. The thing I love most about soup is that it’s freezable and you can add any cooked meat you like to it to make it a complete meal. Here are a few quick soups that I make regularly.

Beef and Vegetable Soup
Brown some lean hamburger meat, onion and garlic in a large pot. Once the meat is completely cooked drain any excess fat add any frozen/canned vegetables you like. I usually add chopped canned tomatoes, green beans, white beans, broccoli or stewed canned tomatoes chopped into bite size pieces.  Just throw the meal together and add a bit of some seasonings, I like mine on the spicy side so I’m always adding a little crushed red pepper. Play with varying spices to see which ones you really like the best. (more…)

It’s Earth Day. A day created for us to help us to remember that we only get one planet to live on and if we don’t take care of it, we’ll have no place to live.

Many of us are trying to live a more sustainable, eco friendly lifestyle. One of the best places to start making changes is in our kitchens. Here are some tips on reducing your carbon footprint and making your kitchen a little healthier.

• Make sure your fridge is set at 36 – 38 degrees. You will likely need to purchase a refrigerator thermometer to gauge this properly.
• If possible don’t place your fridge close to a stove or sunny window where it will be warmer, causing the compressor to turn on more frequently using more energy. (more…)

I was recently at event where they were hyping a “cleanse”. “Cleanses” aren’t worth it regardless of how “all natural” they claim to be. Your body already has its natural cleansing system called your liver. All things pass through your liver and despite what the bottle says or what you heard from a friend your body has a great cleansing system.

So instead of doing a “cleanse” why not focus on cleaning up your diet. You know removing all the processed foods from your diet so that you won’t feel the need to “cleanse”. Here are some great spring fruit and veggies to give a try.

• Asparagus — great source of fiber, folic acid and B vitamins. I like to roast it in the oven or put them on the grill
• Beets — I know they seem like a fall veggies but they are still readily available. I love my roasted with a little Udo’s oil, feta cheese a walnuts. Yummy!
• Cherries — my favorite fruit I LOVE cherry season. I really need to practice portion control with these.
• Kiwi — I like my on the firm side. I add it to cottage cheese or greek yogurt with a touch of honey — YUMMY
• Strawberries — Yahoo — I love fresh strawberries on my oatmeal nothing tastes better. The mix of hot with the cool berries. Sorry I was having a dream weaver moment

What is your favorite spring fruit or veggie, I would to hear it.

On the calendar Easter is next Sunday, but by looking at any of the stores   Easter should have been shortly  after Valentine’s Day. You can’t go through a store without those tempting treats popping out at you. Personally I’m a sucker for the Cadbury mini eggs, those things just call me! I’m sure you have an Easter treat that just screams your name.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what it is.  Oh my how could I forget that I’m also a SUCKER for peeps, you know the marshmallow ones. Yum, Yum give me some! Okay enough about the unhealthy, let’s talk about surviving Easter without packing on the pounds.

• The Easter basket — instead of filling with candy add some boxes of raisins, cranberry or fruit. If you must do chocolate make it dark. Also add in some non-food treats. Like coloring books and puzzles.
• Healthy Easter Menu
• Main dish — Grilled Wild Salmon
• Side dish — Roasted Veggies — love this one, it’s awesome
• Desert lemon squares. They are fast, easy and delicious.

I hope of a few of these ideas help you out. If you have any additional tips, I would love to hear them just leave them in the comments below.

Chipotle Scrambled Egg Skillet

1 (14 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 small avocado, diced
5 Tbsp chipotle pepper sauce, divided
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
8 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

In a glass or plastic bowl, mix together the tomatoes, avocado, 3 tablespoons of the chipotle sauce, garlic, green onion, and cilantro in a small bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, remaining 2 tablespoons chipotle sauce, water, and salt. Spray large heavy skillet with non-stick spray and put over medium heat. Add egg mixture and cook, stirring only as egg sets up. When eggs are almost set, flip a few times.
When eggs are completely set, spoon tomato mixture over and immediately slide off onto plates to serve.

The calendar may say its spring, but if you live in New England it certainly doesn’t feel like it. But like they say, if you don’t like the weather in New England just wait a minute and it will change. For the past few years, our weather has a way of skipping its way right through spring and into summer without much notice. So that’s why I think a 30 day challenge is EXACTLY what we all need to get us ready for summer. What does this mean’ Typically when you think of making a lifestyle change, you list ALL the things that you need to do and then get overwhelmed or only make a few changes because you get overwhelmed or you quit because you are striving to be perfect. The Fab Fit Squad 30 day challenge is not about being perfect, it’s about making small changes so that you can stick with them over the long haul. Just like me on Facebook and each day I will post a tip of the day, to help you keep up the challenge. The challenge starts, Friday, April 1st. Are you ready’  Leave me some comments below about what you are hoping to change in the next 30 days.

It’s time that you and Mr./Ms. Scale broke up. You’re not going to call him anymore, you’re not going to stalk him on Facebook.  Your just not into him/her any more.

Let’s get real here!

How many of you weigh yourself every day’ Multiple times’ When you weigh yourself do the results make or break your day’ Or do you avoiding weighing yourself because you don’t want to know. (more…)

I have a number of mom clients, who say they eat junk food because I have to buy it for the kids.  Really your kids have that much control of what you buy and how you eat. Well times have certainly changed since I was a kid.  Our after school snacks weren’t sugar filled. My diabetic grandmother took care of us after school, so sugary treated weren’t an option.  I didn’t realize that yogurt was a health food until the 8^th grade, I thought everyone ate it. How naive was I that I also thought raisins, I mean actual non-coated raisins were candy. (more…)

Summer’s coming, we can no longer hide behind our sweaters, for the past few weeks you’ve been receiving catalogs and emails with bathing suits on the cover.  Each time you look at the cover you shutter thinking I’m  not ready!
Each morning you get out of the shower and glance at yourself in the mirror and think is this the year I dust off my bikini’  Maybe if I close my eyes and click my heels together 3 times, I’ll look like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model. Sorry, ladies, I tried this and it doesn’t work, when you finally open your eyes, you’re still you.  To get a bikini body, it takes time.  The good news is if you start now, you will be well on your way to a great body by the time beach season arrives.  Here are some tips that will help get and keep a bikini body. (more…)

Today is National Peanut Butter Lover’s day. Personally, I have a love hate relationship with peanut. You hear people talk about gateway drugs, well peanut butter is my gateway food. Once I have some I can’t stop I keep eating and eating and eating. When I’m competing I can’t have peanut butter in the house, it just won’t be pretty.  The good news I’m not alone.

Statistics show that Americans eat 3 pounds of peanuts/ year. Well I can beat that. Give me a bag of peanuts including the shells ,sorry those don’t slow me down, I can make my kitchen floor look like Fenway park.  I can keep eating and eating and eating.

Peanuts aren’t bad, for you they are a good fat, but they are CALORIE DENSE FAT BOMBS — Just one Tablespoon has 94 Calories and 8.9 grams of FAT so they should be eaten sparingly.  Many mistake nuts as a protein source, yes they contain protein, but the amount of fat in peanut butter counteracts and your body process it as a fat than as a protein.

Now I must go, just purchase a jar of Teddy’s and need to have a moment.

We are just 4 weeks from spring, thank goodness, it’s been a long hard winter. That also means that summer will be fast approaching.  It’s 17 weeks away, but hey who’s counting. (more…)